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Corporations and Human Rights—Lecture Outline UN effort to establish responsible corporate practices that respect human rights, by Harvard law professor John Ruggie. The first time UN takes up corporations and HR relationship. (Editor et al. web rdg.) “Protect, Respect, Remedy” is basic framework (define each part) Criticisms of his approach, as well as more cautiously optimistic view… o Voluntary vs. enforceable… Other means of pressuring corporations— trade sanctions, consumer pressure, exposure to public of HR violation practices cause bad PR and can reduce sales, etc. “Human Rights Due Diligence” (define) -- new term Ruggie has introduced and gotten accepted by many leading corporations and many international organizations (OECD, EU, etc.). Various reasons corporations have for following HR norms (include lawsuits) o Recent US court ruling on “Alien Tort Claims Act” limits reach of US lawsuits re: corporate HR violations in foreign countries. In prior years, there were a few settlements of ATCA cases ourt of court, with oil companies paying millions in damages to avoid a trial and bad PR… (Editor et al. web rdg.) Sjoberg (1999 & 2009) takes up topic of need to hold powerful corporations morally and socially accountable when they violate human rights. Corporations as a form of bureaucracy -- hierarchy, division of labor, rules, stress on efficiency (for profit), and use of secrecy (latter is often part of HR problems). o Profit and efficiency are social constructed – accounting rules can be manipulated to inflate profits, etc. and this has lead to scandals and even corp. bankruptcies . Relationship between Human Agency and Bureaucracy—unequal and dynamic o Mind is social product, & individual can engage in critical thinking and critical reflection, think of alternative arrangements o Organizations are made up of individuals but are greater than sum of individuals and have an existence that is separate from individuals. o Individuals also shape organizations, but more often vice versa… Still individuals do not just robotically conform to organizations, they resist and reinterpret, etc. and can make change, but as underdogs… Bureaucratic Organizations / Corporations Shape and Manipulate Markets (Sjoberg 1999) E.G., GM et al. tearing out mass transit systems to increase car sales… [LIBOR global banking interest rate manipulation scandal is current 2012 example] Corp link to informal economy (Illegal vs. quazi-legal & legal—ruile violation vs. rule avoidance and manipulation—again, accounting rules and accounting fraud cases provide examples in banking sector) Social Triage (Sjoberg 1999), general definition of concept, and then look at examples such as very high-cost banking services for the poor (pay day loan operations, etc.), environmental hazards such as waste disposal sites located near poor neighborhoods, etc. (Sjoberg 2009) Power of Corporations in Modern World is greater than that of most nations (financially). Yet Corporations are product of the nation state and its laws. Key features of Corps. - are poorly suited for moral or social accountability. Some of these key features are: “Legal personality” (corporate personhood) treating corps. as natural persons with same rights as individuals, but with fewer responsibilities / duties, due to “Limited Liability” laws that shield individual leaders of corps. of much accountability. Corp. responsibility for profit maximization for shareholders limits broader social and moral accountability. Some morally objectionable areas of profit making should be prohibited on HR grounds (e.g., corporate mercenary security organizations in wars) To hold Corps. morally and socially accountable for upholding Human Rights, need to reform legal structure on which corps founded, esp. legal personhood of corps. and limited liability. (Sjoberg 2009) Example of this is recent 2013 PA court ruling that corps. are not natural persons and thus have fewer rights than do persons, that corps. are creations of law and thus not people. Specifically that corps have fewer privacy rights. In this case specifically, natural gas drilling corps. have to reveal chemicals used in drilling that may be causing pollution and environmental harm (& health hazards for residents). This could lead to some accountability for damages and harm…